Known VPN provider Windscribe has revealed that it failed to encrypt its own VPN servers. These servers were seized by Ukrainian authorities, meaning that the Ukrainian government would be able to capture and log any traffic sent through the VPN.
One of the main reasons a lot of users invest in VPNs is to avoid government tracking, so for Windscribe to allow its customers to fall victim to this goes directly against one of the main appeals of using such a service.
While there is no record of which customers fell victim to Ukraine’s watchful eye, Windscribe has vowed to improve its service, and has taken full responsibility for the breach, mapping out numerous steps the business is taking to improve its product for the future.
What Happened to Windscribe and Why Does It Matter?
Due to Windscribe’s servers being located in Ukraine, they were susceptible to seizure by Ukrainian authorities. Normally this wouldn’t be a massive issue, as the data that users send through the servers would be encrypted and protected. However, Windscribe’s failure to appropriately protect these servers means that Ukraine has access to everything.
This is bad for customers, as it essentially lays bare their entire activity online – something which a VPN is fundamentally supposed to protect against.
As for Windscribe’s response, it has owned up to the fault, with the company’s director Yegor Sak making a statement:
“We make no excuses for this omission. Security measures that should have been in place were not. After conducting a threat assessment we feel that the way this was handled and described in our article was the best move forward. It affected the fewest users possible while transparently addressing the unlikely hypothetical scenario that results from the seizure.”
It’s not just words though, as the company is making strides to improve after this mistake. These steps, according to Windscribe, are:
- All keys required for server function are no longer stored permanently on any our servers and exist solely in memory after they are put into operation
- All servers have unique short-lived certificates and keys generated from our new CA which are rotated
- Each server certificate has uniquely identifying Common Name + SANs
- New OpenVPN client configurations enforce server certificate X509 name verification using the common name which is unique.
What Are Some Better VPN Options?
While Windscribe has vowed to rectify this mistake and make sure it never happens again, a breach of this magnitude is an immense failure on behalf of the company, and should not be taken lightly.
Due to this security breach, we have removed Windscribe from our list of the most secure VPN services. A VPN’s most important feature is its security and the protection of its customers, so when a service fails to provide this, its credibility takes a massive hit.
For our specific recommendations, NordVPN offers what we believe to be the most secure VPN service. Another good option is ExpressVPN.
| Price From Lowest price for single month subscription to cheapest paid tier. Other plans are available. | Verdict | No. of Devices | Zero Data Logging | Kill Switch | Email Support | Live Chat | Free Trial | Try Click to find the latest offers, deals and discounts from the VPN provider | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| $2.99/month | $2.03/month | $9.99/month | $3.00/month min. ($1 per location) | ~$4.87 per month | $2.19/month | $8.32/month | |||
| Super fast and easy to use, NordVPN is among the best we’ve tested. Advanced features like Onion-Over-VPN make it stand out from the crowd. | A fast VPN that performed well on our speed tests, and also owns a lot of its own server infrastructure. | A safe, easy-to-use and relatively robust VPN app that performed really well on our 2024 unblocking tests. | Affordably priced ultra-secure VPN that has great privacy features but is a little slow. | A reliable, widely-used VPN that has decent privacy controls, but it performed very poorly on our speed tests. | A decently-priced VPN that does all the basics well, but has an incredibly small server network compared to PureVPN and Co. | A decent option for seasoned torrenters, but a little pricier than PureVPN and Private Internet Access. | A user-friendly VPN based in Romania with servers optimized for streaming, but no obfuscation technology. | A highly reliable VPN with servers in more than 100 countries – but it comes with one of the heftiest price tags on the market. | ||
| 6 | Unlimited | 10 | Unlimited | 8-12 | Unlimited | 10 | 7 | 5 | ||
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| 30-day money-back guarantee | Yes (iOS and Android) | 7 days | | | | | | 30-day money-back guarantee | ||
| See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals | See Deals |
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